Spring starter



Nov. 21, 1933.

P. LANSING SPRING S-TARTER Filed Feb. 18, 1931 INVENTOR Raymund PLanaz'zzy. BY p I ATTORNEY Patented 1-t w. 21, 1933' 1,936,554

v UNITED STATES PATENT ,OFFlCE SPRING STARTER Raymond P. Lansing, Montclair, N. J., assignor to Eclipse Aviation Corporation, East Orange, N. 1., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 18, 1931. Serial No. 516,774

8 Claims. (01. 185-41) This invention relates toengine starting mechwith a transversely-extending wall or partition anism, and more particularly to a device of the 5 and at its outer end witha closure plate 6 which spring motor type adapted for use in cranking may be secured in any suitable manner to said internal combustion engines. j housing as by means of screws -(not shown).

5 One of the objects of the invention is to provide Extending centrally through wall 5 and plate 6 60 novel means for cranking an internal combustion is a shaft '7 which is rotatably mo in p engine which is so constructed that cranking tion 5 and cover plate 6. energy may be stored in said means at the will Suitable means are operatively connected to of an operator andutilized thereafter at any conshaft 7 for engag the rotatable memher 0f the venient time. engine to be started, said means being so con- Another object is to provide a novel engine stituted that, during the normal operation of the 65 starter of the type embodying a resilient member e gine, he Starting app iS d o ect d as the element in which energy is adapted to be from said engine. In the form shown, the inner stored. A further object is the provision of novel end f S ft 7 s t ead d as a 8t r ce v a starting mechanism particularly adapted for jaw clutch member 9 which is adapted for rotary I cranking small engines such as outboard engines and longitudinal movement along the threaded for boats, portion 8, and for driving engagement with mem- Further objects are to provide a device which be R y attached in y Suitable manner, is compact, light in weight, inexpensive to manuas by means of threads to the inner end of shaft facture and readily installed on engines now in 7 is em 10, the hub of Which Constitutes a p use, one which is readily adapted for manual for member 9 whereby itudinal m vem nt of 75 operation, and one in which the efiort required on the letter is p s t y limited and Said member the part, of the operator for storing up energy 9 iS constrained to rotate withthe Shaft 7. Prefis reduced to a minimum. The above and other. erebly rewilient means, 511611 as a @011 Spring objects will appear more fully hereinafter in the Which Surrounds Shaft is erp sed between detailed description, the stop nut' 10 and the'jaw member 9 in order One embodiment of the invention is illustrated to retain Said member 9 in disengaged I p ition in the accompanying drawing, but itis to be during normal Operation of e e gine and to expressly understood that the, drawing is. for P e creeping of said er 9- purposes of illustration only and is not to be de- Energy Storage means, S as a Suitable signed as a definition of ,the limits of the ihvenspri is preferably p vid d f a tuati 5 tion, reference being had for this purpose to the member In the form Shown, 8 Spiral Spring appended l 12 is secured at its inner end in any convenient In'th drawing; manner to shaft 7, while the outer end of 'said' Fig. 1 is an axial section of one embodiment Spring is anchored to easing In t e embodiof the invention; and ment illustrated, the outer end of the spring is 0 Fig. 2 is a detail view, partly in section, taken provided with an y through whic extends a along the line 2-2 of Fig. l. pin 13 adapted to be inserted through openings In the form shown, the structure of the present in l 14 Which y be formed t a y w h invention preferably includes a housing 3 adaptteem];

cOtter P n 15 y be p y f 95 ed to be secured in any suitable manner to the retaining. D 13 in position engine to be started. It will be understood that Suitable mea s are provided for Storing e y if the structure of the invention is applied to an in the r li t ember 2, and, p y, S outboard engine for boats, housing 3-will occupy means are so constructed that the same are a vertical or upright position and will be rigidly normally disconnected from the resilient memmounted above the flywheel andvsubstantially ber. In the illustrated embodiment, shaft 7 has coaxial therewith. I rigidly attached thereto; adjacent spring 12, a since the details of construction of the 'engin a 6 dap d to be a d y pi i n 1'? seper se form no part of the present invention, it cured to, or integral with, a slidably and rotatwill be suflicient for a clear understanding of ably mounted shaft 18 which extends through an the latter to point out that a clutch member 4,, opening in cover plate 6 and through an opening which may be of the jaw type, is drivably conin a lug or boss 19 rigid with'casing 3. A coil nected to a'suitable member of the engine to be spring 20 surrounds shaft 18 intermediate lug started such as a flywheel, crankshaft, etc. 19 and pinion 1'7 and is of such length that nor- 55 Housing 3 is provided intermediate its ends mally the pinion is yieldingly held by said spring means 12 under tension after energy has been stored therein, said means being manually eperable to release said resilient means whereupon the stored. energy is effective to operate the elements of the starter to crank the engine. In the embodiment shown, the locking and releasing men. s

the teelever the atwardli projecting arm of lever 23 is a eoi spring hating one end anchored to the as b ans of a pin 28. Normally,

a ring 27 is eff cti'ie to hold the inner end of lever 23 in en agament with the teeth of gear .red energy may be retained in 16 whereby st:

, resilient means i rotate shaft '2' and store energy in resilient means 12, the pawl or member 23 being effective to prevent the spring 12 from unwinding in the event that the pressure is removed at any instant from lever 22. After spring 12 has been wound up, i. e., after suficient energy has been stored therein to perform the cranking operation, lever 22 is released and spring 20 is effective to move pinion 21 to non-meshing position. The energy expended in winding the spring is now available at any time for cranking the engine by actuating the pawl or lever 23. Movement of the latter about its pivot in a counter-clockwise directionreleases gear 16 for rotation relatively to the housing whereupon shaft 7 is rotated and the inertia of member 9 is effective to move the latter along the threaded portion 8 of the shaft into driving engagement with the clutch memher 4 connected to the engine. The energy in the spring is now effective to crank and start the engine.

' As soon as the engine starts under its own power, the clutch member 9 is automatically moved out of engagement with clutch member 4 due to the inclined teeth of said clutch members, the screw and nut action of elements 8 and 9, and spring 11.

There is thus provided novel engine starting mechanism of the manually operable type which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and which can be readily installed on engines now in use. It will be apparent that various forms of gearing may be employed, but preferably said gearing is so constructed that the connection between the lever 22 and shaft 7 is 1,936,554 out of engagement with the gear 16, such posiciaims for a definition 01' tion.

What is claimed is:

1. In a starter for an internal combustion engine of the type embodying a driving member adapted to move longitudinally to engage and rotate a member of the engine to be started, the combination with said driving member and engine member of resilient means for actuating said driving member in both its longitudinal and rotary movements, means for manually energizsaid resilient means comprising a hand crank and a gear train interposed between said handcrank and resilient means, means engageable with said gear train for retaining in said resilient means the energy imparted thereto by said manually operated means, and a second manually operable device for releasing said last named means to cause operative engagement between said driving and engine members.

2. In a device of the class described, in combination with a member to be driven, a rotatable shaft, 2. driving member mounted thereon for longitudinal movement into engagement with said driven member and for rotary movement therewith, means for producing such combined rotary and longitudinal movement comprising a member secured to said shaft, and in which energy is'adapted to be stored, means for storing energy in said member, and means for releasing the energy thus stored at will, at any desired time thereafter.

3. In a device of the class described, in combination with a member to be driven, a rotatable shaft, a driving member mounted thereon for longitudinal movement into engagement with said driven member and for rotary movement therewith, means for producing such combined rotary and longitudinal movement comprising a member secured to said shaft, and in which enthe limits of the invenergy is adapted to be stored, means for storing shaft, a coiled spring connected to said shaft at one end and to said housing at the other, means for manually rotating said shaft to wind said spring, resilient means for opposing movement of said driving member into engagement with said engine member during operation of said winding means, and means for retaining the energy thus stored in said spring until it is desired to produce engagement between said driving and engine members.

5. An engine starting apparatus including a driving member adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, and operating means therefor, said operating means comprising a. rotatable shaft drivably engaging said driving member, a housing surrounding said shaft and provided with means for rotatably supporting said shaft, a coiled spring connected to said shaft at one end and to said housing at the other, means for manually rotating said shaft to wind said spring, and means for opposing movement of said driving member into engagement with said engine member during operation of said winding means, said means being insufficient to prevent such movement of the driving member upon release of the energy stored in said spring.

6. An engine starting apparatus including a driving member adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, and operating means therefor, said operating means comprising a rotatable shaft drivably-engaging said driving member, a housing surrounding said shaft and provided with means for rotatably supporting said shaft, a coiled spring connected to said shaft at one end and to said housing at the other, means for manually rotating said shaft to wind said spring, means for opposing movement of said driving member into engagement with said engine member during operation of said winding means, means for retaining the energy thus stored in said spring until it is desired to produce engagement between said driving and engine members, and means for releasing said maintaining means to cause movement of said driving member into engagement with said engine member by virtue of the superior force of the energy stored in said spring.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with a rotatable shaft having a member mounted thereon for longitudinal movement relative thereto and rotary movement therewith,

means for rotating said shaft comprising a spring secured thereto at one end, and held stationarily at its other end, means for placing a stress in said spring comprisinga gear connected to said shaft and asecond gear normally out of engagement with said first named gear and adapted to be manually moved to engage and rotate said gear, and a second manually operated device engageable with said first named gear to control the transfer of torque from said spring to said shaft.

8. In a device of the class described, a rotatable shaft having a member threaded thereto for engagement with a member to be driven, actuating means for said shaft comprising a spring in' which energy is stored for subsequent application to said shaft, manually operable means for storing energy in said spring comprising a member normally disconnected from said spring but movable into position to energize said spring, means for suddenly applying the energy thus stored in said spring to said shaft to cause engagement of the driving member with the engine member, and means operable upon the release of said manually operated means to disestablish operative connection between said spring and energizing means.

RAYMOND P. LANSING. 

